Ionica Headquarters, Cambridge

The new 4,000 square metre headquarters of the telecommunications company Ionica was designed by Cambridge based architects R H Partnership, and completed by Wates Construction. The building is located in the City's St Johns Innovation Park which is owned by the college of the same name. Colt Louvre was chosen to provide plant protection and solar shading.

The building is on three floors and is designed around a 54m long rooflight over the central atrium. Due to the building having natural ventilation and a large area of glazing on the south elevation, solar shading was required externally to reduce solar glare for the building's occupants, as well as being used internally under the glazed rooflights.

Colt supplied 75 square metres of single bank Universal Louvre for visual screening of the plant which was installed on the roof. In addition, two full height towers housing floor by floor plant rooms were fitted with functional, double bank and blanked off single bank louvres. Louvred access doors were fitted at the base of the towers for the sprinkler and lift monitor rooms.

Colt Louvre was also used externally as solar shading. A double run of white louvre panels with tubular frontages was mounted horizontally on each floor to give the required protection for solar shading without a large overhang.

The building was fitted with over 100 square metres of white Solar C Louvre, designed to reduce sunlight penetration into the office space under the central rooflights.